Sometimes I Hiccup
by Random-StoryKeeper
Summary: How to Train Your Dragon Trainer! If you love someone, how many things can go wrong before you tell them? Astrid x Hiccup. Now complete!
1. The Obvious

**Jan. 13, 2013: **I haven't been to Fanfiction in a while, I realized that. Since Fanfiction now makes it easier to export story chapters to documents, I thought I'd take this opportunity to make some minor changes, in terms of spelling and grammar and such.

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Once again, Hiccup's land and his people were in grave danger of losing all they had from a dragon.

It wasn't the fact that the dragons had to serve another master and were therefore stealing food. Since the defeat of the giant dragon, both humans and dragons had lived in pretty much peace and harmony…with a few flames here and there.

The reason for the rampage pointed to one small dragon that had bad temper problems. And this time, unfortunately, the poor dragon angrily rampaged the town because one of his dragon friends refused to share food with him.

Eventually, after setting two houses on fire and knocking down three others, Hiccup and his Nightfury, Toothless finally managed to calm down the dragon's temper.

As Toothless gracefully landed, Hiccup swung his legs (or leg and a half) over the dragon's body, only to stare straight into the eyes of…

Astrid. Man, the girl looked even prettier with fire lighting up in the background. And those piercing eyes were ready to strike the heart of any young boy she'd plunge them into.

With one grab of her hand, Astrid pulled Hiccup close to her.

"That," she said, with a sort of mysteriousness in her voice. "That was quite amazing."

Hiccup blushed. It seemed these days that everything he did was amazing to Astrid. _In fact_, he thought to himself. _She is amazing. She's beautiful, she's stunning…_

He had to tell her.

He couldn't, could he? Hiccup had never been so great around girls. When he felt his dragon nudging him closer and closer to Astrid, he knew Toothless was in on his little love secret. With that, he took a deep breath and pulled her in close so only she could hear him.

"I…" Hiccup began, taking another deep breath right after he said the word. "Astrid, I-"

_Hic!_

Startled by this, both Hiccup and Astrid moved away from each other, falling flat on their bums.

Between giggles, as Astrid helped Hiccup up to his feet again, she asked, "Hiccups again?"

Hiccup blushed. "I-_hic!_" was all he could reply.

Astrid put her hands on her hips, shaking her head in mock disappointment. Quickly, Hiccup covered his mouth before he could do it again. "Um," he gulped nervously, adding a little hiccup and nervous giggle at the end. "Guess another spasm in my-_hiccup_-diaphragm." He giggled and hiccupped nervously again.

Astrid smiled and was about to speak when she heard a voice calling her name. "I gotta go," she said slowly, backing away from Hiccup. "We'll talk later when those hiccups are gone."

Hiccup only laughed and hiccupped again as Astrid ran off. When she was finally out of his sight, he slumped down against his dragon and crossed his arms. "Stupid-_hic!_-hiccups!"

Toothless stared at Hiccup as though he were insane. "And I'm not talking about myself!" he added in despair.


	2. Lessons from Dad

**Jan 13, 2013:** Stoick's name changed from Stoic to "Stoick". Also removed long author's notes. If the notes take up a huge portion of the story, I've certainly got issues.

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**Chapter 2: Lessons from Dad**

The hiccups finally managed to calm themselves down after Hiccup downed three glasses of water inside his house. As Hiccup set down the third glass he had downed, Toothless positioned himself in front of his trainer, narrowed his eyes and growled.

Hiccup could only let out a huge sigh of exasperation, knowing exactly what was on Toothless' mind. "Yeah, I know," he griped. "So I'm not great at talking with girls."

The Nightfury looked amused, as though it were comedy entertainment. Hiccup returned the amused expression with a glare. "Yeah, well, that's my problem," he rambled on. "My problem is that I can't talk with girls. My problem is that I can't accept the fact that she's so-"

Hiccup's voice abruptly cut off as he heard a whooshing noise at his door. With the support of Toothless, he hobbled over to the door, took a peek through it and let out one thought that fit the girl who had him tongue tied; a girl riding on the back of a dragon who just had him saying:

"She's so beautiful."

"Talking to yourself again, aren't you, Hiccup?" a voice suddenly bellowed from the shadows. Startled, Hiccup turned around to face Stoick, leaning against the wall to look all casual yet steady himself from falling over.

"Uh, hey, Dad!" Hiccup said nervously, hoping Stoick wasn't listening to the majority of what he ranted. "I wasn't talking to myself."

"Oh, really," Hiccup's father replied sarcastically, clearly not buying into his son's excuse. "Then why did I hear you blabbering about some girl you loved-"

"Love?" Hiccup exclaimed in shock. "Dad, I'm sorry, but I think you're getting the wrong idea, you see. I'm _not_ in love-"

The boy didn't even have time to finish his sentence as his father put a hand around his son's shoulder. "Son," Stoick declared proudly. "I know I mentioned I was proud to have you as my son, back when you saved our people. But now I'm even more proud of you, Hiccup, for finally finding a girl you love and for finally breaking out of your shell!" Stoick gave his son a proud pat and shake on the shoulder while Hiccup chuckled nervously in the background.

"Yeah, Dad," Hiccup stammered, trying to break free of his father's grasp. "I've finally fallen in love-that's great. But if you'll excuse me, I'll be out in the woods, trying not to die of embarrassment-"

"My son!" Stoick interrupted, clearly expressing excitement for this great moment. "Hopefully you understand the art of love before going out with some girl! Why, what step on the love ladder are you on?"

"Step?" Hiccup replied, confused. "What step?"

"Well, you know, love is like a ladder, where you have to climb each and every step until you reach, well, the top."

Hiccup stood there gaping at his father for a moment. "And what exactly is this 'first step'?"

Stoick looked dumbfounded. "Eye contact," he answered after clearing his throat. "Eye contact with the girl comes first. Then you hold hands. And then…" His voice trailed off trying to search for the right words in his head. "Then you give her flowers." He finished the last sentence with a tentative grin.

Once again, Hiccup looked at his father as if he were growing a mutation on his body. "You're making this up as you go, aren't you?"

"Um, well, yeah," Stoick answered truthfully. "But I'm serious about the flowers. That is just one thing that always makes girls love you even more." He motioned Hiccup and Toothless (who had been watching the entire time, making strange expressions throughout the conversation) out the door. "Now go, find some nice-looking flowers. And remember…" Stoick leaned in close to his son's face to whisper, "When you hold those flowers up to a girl's face…you hold up all our faces."

"DAD!" When Stoick saw Hiccup's mixed up face, he knew he had whispered the wrong secret. "At least you will be holding me and your mother," the Viking corrected himself. "And maybe Toothless."


	3. Toothless Takes Charge

**Author's note: I apologize for the delay in updates. School, for one thing, you know... and I haven't been feeling too good these days. (sighs) Updates for this story will most definitely have inconsistency, meaning that I may update in a few days, or it may even take a week or so to get the next chapter up and running. **

**Anyways, have any of you listened to the "How to Train Your Dragon Movie Soundtrack"? It's hanging around YouTube, and I recommend listening to it, especially if you love the movie. If possible, I would like to buy the music. My favourite tracks are "Forbidden Friendship" and "Test Drive"!**

**Please enjoy this next chapter (hopefully. I have my fingers crossed!). Obviously, I do not own "How to Train Your Dragon" (how is this a disclaimer, anyway? what do I disclaim from). **

**To avatardn.n (if that is how you properly spell your penname): I look forward to reading your upcoming one-shot with the hiccuping concept involved =). **

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**Chapter 3: Toothless Takes Charge**

Hiccup lay thrashing around in his bed, pondering of ways to win over Astrid's love besides simply telling her, "I love you." To him, he just needed a certain, special way to make up for the kiss she had given him, the one he said that he could get used to.

Hiccup turned over to the other side of his bed. _Perhaps_, he thought. _Perhaps my dad's idea of flowers isn't so bad. After all, according to his "ladder", I'm at the stage where I'm supposed to give flowers. Just where am I going to find some? _The teenager sighed to himself one last time before turning over to the other side once again. The last thing he saw that night was Toothless, sleeping peacefully, unmindful of Hiccup's uncomfortable state of mind.

~YYY~

The sun shone brightly in his face as Hiccup awoke, blinded. Clumsily, he pushed aside the covers of his bed and placed both feet (or one foot and a piece of metal) on the floor. Just before he made the decision to stand up, he realized something was different. Normally, as Hiccup would get out of bed, Toothless would be at his side, allowing Hiccup time to steady himself. Today, however, the Night fury was nowhere to be seen.

For a moment, Hiccup wondered if he really should make attempts to stand himself and get out of bed, but in the end decided to crawl back under the covers and sleep some more. He had no need to rush anywhere today and felt he was still tired. He could sleep until his dragon returned to assist him.

This time, as Hiccup dozed off, he began to reflect on the kiss, the first kiss on the lips he had received from Astrid, the first kiss he had received in his lifetime.

_Hiccup winced as Astrid hit punched him playfully on the shoulder for the umpteenth time. _

_"That's for scaring me," she explained ruthlessly. _

_"Ow!" was Hiccup's first response to the punch. "Do you always have to do that when-?"_

_Before he could complete his sentence, Astrid intervened by pressing her lips against his. As she let go, she concluded, "That's for everything else." _

_Hiccup felt his heart rising above the clouds as he gently took Astrid's hands and placed them into his. "Astrid," he began. "Astrid, I love…" His voice trailed off as he gasped at Astrid's next interesting response. _

_It appeared to be by the second that Astrid's lips were getting bigger and pinker by the second, just waiting to devour Hiccup's words and his love. He stood there, petrified, unsure of what to do as the big pink lips came closer and closer towards him…_

~YYY~

Before Hiccup could scream, whether in his strange dream or in reality, he was rudely awakened by Toothless' daily morning lick. Groaning, he groggily wiped dragon spit off his face, staring into the Night fury's attentive dog eyes, eyes that read, _I have a surprise for you. _

The Night fury eagerly pulled off the covers of Hiccup's bed and opened his mouth. Next thing he new, Hiccup came face to face with a pile of dead fish scattered on his lap.

"Oh…" said a nervous Hiccup, secretly wondering how long it would take for the horrendous smell to disappear. "Great, Toothless. You brought your breakfast to me in bed. Yum, um, that's great, but I'm really full-"

A loud growl from Hiccup's stomach took a moment to interrupt the conversation. With an uneasy look on his face, he covered his stomach with his hands in an attempt to muffle up the noise. The Night fury took the moment to stare at his trainer's stomach and narrow his eyes.

Hiccup tensed. "Yeah, yeah," he responded. "I know what you're thinking. But I'm really not in the mood for fish, you see-"

Toothless slammed the floor with one of his feet, as if to say, "Shut up and look!" Hiccup reluctantly shut up and pushed a fish aside, then another until he found what he was looking for.

With all the fish pushed aside, a bouquet of flowers was the only thing left on Hiccup's lap. The flowers had five petals each and were a dark midnight blue with a golden tip on each petal. Slowly, as if the flowers were going to explode any second, he picked up and examined the bundle.

For awhile, Hiccup admired the bouquet that Toothless had made especially for his trainer. "Toothless," he said with satisfaction. "I'm impressed." He turned the flowers around again for another look. "Say, where'd you find these?"

The Night fury cocked his head to the side. He then walked forward and nuzzled the flowers. Hiccup gently petted him back. "You're right," Hiccup said confidently, holding up the flower bouquet. "With these flowers, I'll just go up to Astrid, proudly wave these flowers in her face and the rest will be-**WHOA!**"

As Hiccup was rambling, he stood up, completely lost his balance and toppled to the floor. Fortunately, he fell right into a pile of fish, which softened his fall by a little.

Toothless trotted over towards Hiccup as he broke free of the fish pile. The Night fury's eyes brightened as he nudged a fish towards his trainer.

"I'm not hungry," was Hiccup's lame response, followed by a grumbling stomach.

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**Author's Note (again): Ah, poor Hiccup. Grossed out by the smell of raw fish in the morning. Good luck getting that smell out of your bed. **

**If you have anything against this story (as in, if I messed up some analogy about the movie), please let me know; I'm fine with it! I've only seen the movie twice, but have a terrible memory on remembering small details from the movie. I even forgot what Hiccup looks like (BAD ME!). **

**Thank you again for all your reviews and support! They are much appreciated. So please, review this chapter. You know you want to! **


	4. Blinded by Surprise

**Author's Note: I have news that may or may not be good. The news? I will be on hiatus for a short period of time. I have a piano festival coming up in a few weeks, and I feel that my practice time is much needed in order to do well and maybe (if ever), win a GOLD (I've only won silver in the last few years... -_-). I meant to tell everyone this in my oneshot "Tomorrow for the Better", but completely forgot about it. So, I tell you now, with a heavy heart, that updates will be delayed for, oh, maybe, three or four weeks? I'll try not to go over a month ;).**

**So now, without further ado, Chapter 4 of this awesome story. Ditto the disclaimer, and enjoy the read!**

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**Chapter 4: Blinded by Mistake**

After what seemed like a nice, gentle flight, Toothless finally landed Hiccup on the shore next to the lake, where Astrid usually was with her Nadder most afternoons. As Hiccup searched around on the ground for her, she appeared to be nowhere in sight. Neither did her Nadder, for that matter.

Toothless grunted and raised his head up to the sky. Hiccup followed his Night fury's gaze, only to get a "charming" view of the sun. Startled and blinded at the same time, Hiccup dropped the bouquet of flowers he was holding to cover his eyes.

"**AGH!**" Hiccup cried in anguish as the horrendous pain tremored through his brain. "Why, oh why did I look there?" While Toothless grunted angrily at Hiccup for being unintelligent enough to look at the sun, Hiccup moaned once again. "Why?" the teen cried. "Why, oh why?"

The bouquet of flowers that Hiccup dropped rolled downhill until it came to a stop behind a rock where Astrid was sitting upon, gazing at the water and watching as her Nadder poked its head in the lake for its tasty meal. It was only as Astrid gazed down towards the lake that she observed the flash of colours reflecting off of the water. Slowly, she turned around and looked beside her. There, next to the rock in all its glory was a loving bouquet of flowers, blue with gold tips.

Off in the distance, Astrid suddenly picked up a strange cry. While her Nadder flew around the lake again, making the occasional grunt, Astrid leisurely stood up and began to walk to where the noise was heard. She was so distracted in this action that she did not notice it was Hiccup making the racket-that is, until she bumped into him. Similar to that of the hiccupping incident, the two fell back in surprise.

As Astrid looked over to Hiccup, he appeared to not look so well. Both hands were clamped over his eyes and his knees were locked together. Overall, it seemed as though the boy was having a nervous breakdown.

"Yow," Hiccup continued to moan, not seeming to notice that he had ran into someone familiar. He attempted to uncover his eyes, just to get sight again, but the second light hit his corneas, he whined and covered them again.

It was a hand that gently pulled Hiccup to a shaded area in the cove, where he slowly regained his vision, just making out who that figure was.

**It was Astrid.**

Hiccup's reaction was somewhat amusing to Astrid. "Oh!" he cried out suddenly in surprise, backing himself up against the rocks. "Astrid," he stuttered nervously, just like when Toothless was being kept a secret. "Hi, Astrid, hi Astrid. I am completely okay, okay? I was on my way here, and the sun was in my eyes, then somehow, I just ended up here, and-"

Astrid put up a hand to stop the boy. Had she not, he would have rambled on until the sun went down.

"I wasn't going to ask if you were okay," she responded to his blurb. "I want to know why you came here."

"Came here? Astrid, you know, I love the cove, and Toothless-Toothless needed lunch, so I took him down so he could eat-"

Astrid didn't buy into Hiccup's excuse. "Oh, yeah? Then how come I saw Toothless around here just a few moments ago, hunting for fish?"

"Maybe he just got hungry, okay? We went flying a lot today, and we got hungry…"

At the sound of the word _hungry_, Toothless looked over at Hiccup and growled. Hiccup returned the look with another of his own. He couldn't let Astrid know what the real reason was. Especially not after he had been blinded by the sun when looking for her.

When Hiccup looked up at Astrid again, suspicion was filling up in her eyes. She stared straight into his and gave an uneasy stare.

"I know you, Hiccup." The voice was almost sleuth-like, as though cracking the case to Hiccup's strange acting. "I know you well enough to know that everything you told me right now was a lie."

The girl of whom the voice belonged to began to walk back to her Nadder, who was waiting for her.

"The sun…the sun really was in my eyes, Astrid," said a protesting Hiccup.

Astrid looked at Hiccup for the last time after reaching her Nadder. "And the other truths you told me were just excuses."

After shooting Hiccup one last cold, hard stare, she flew off into the afternoon sky as Hiccup slumped down against the rocky ledge, wanting to punch himself for not being able to tell the truth. He was a teenage boy, after all. He was the first Viking to ever fly a dragon. Couldn't one who flew dragons be brave enough to conquer his greatest love?

An idea soon dawned upon the boy as he noticed that his Night fury was busily drawing lines on the ground with a stick while awaiting his trainer to take him and fly back. "That's it!" Hiccup exclaimed as he carefully made his way towards Toothless, mounting him, and then taking off into the sky, leaving the flowers he dropped behind.

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**Author's Afterthought: Just recently I went with my friends to Chapters to check out the "How to Train Your Dragon" books they had there. Boy, were they ever funny! I looked at the illustrations in one of the books, and Hiccup looked more like a full-grown adult than a young teenage boy hugging his father. The movie novel they had there was a basic kid's chapter book, with one sentence describing an entire scene, apparently. A guidebook to dragons was also there, and they mentioned that Night furies have only four shots! I'm not too sure if that's true, though, because my friend counted five when Toothless and Hiccup were fighting the Green Death. **

**The store also had Mad Libs HTTYD, and I was interested in buying that (I ALMOST did, but decided not to). **

**So long, Fan fiction! I bid you farewell for a certain amount of time... **

**Of course, since I take Business Computer Applications in school, I may still review some stories around this archive, especially the ones I subscribe to. So just expect a really huge gap between the next chapter and this one. Don't worry, though, as I already have fresh Chapter 5 ideas in my head and can't wait to start. **

**~Mm...other than that, I ask that you review....please? Even if you haven't reviewed before? Even if you don't have an account or are too lazy to sign in? Really, I would like to know. So thanks again =)~**


	5. Poetic Devices

**Author's Note: I would like to give a late fanfiction "Happy Birthday" shoutout to my friend Willowbranch! Happy birthday, my friend!**

**That being said, you probably understand why I took so long to update: piano festivals and all. There's also a ton of final exams coming in June, and recently, I got attacked by plot bunnies, which took away some of my motivation to write this chapter. But I promised you all that I would finish this as soon as my festival was over, so here we go, with Chapter 5 of "How to Train Your Dragon Trainer"!**

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**Chapter 5: Poetic Devices**

It never occurred to Hiccup that Vikings in his day and age used guidebooks.

Nonetheless, the boy was not deliberately searching for Viking guidebooks as he was carrying out his plan to win Astrid's love. Rather, he was sitting at his desk; a stick of charcoal at hand and paper smoothed out on the wooden surface, prepared to write the love of his life a letter.

_If words can't come out of my mouth easily,_ Hiccup thought as he set himself up to begin. _Perhaps the words will come out better on paper. _Positioning his charcoal above the paper, he carefully began to write out Astrid's name.

Her name was beautiful to him, almost poetic, so Hiccup focused on making the letters curvy and elaborate. Each letter written was like a thousand cheerful bells ringing in his heart. He had a good feeling about this; he had a good feeling it would work. Carefully, as he curved off the final letter _d_, a loud noise caused him to suddenly swerve the line off the page. Startled by this, Hiccup turned around to face Toothless, who stared sheepishly down at a scattered pile of thick books.

"Toothless!" was Hiccup's shocked reply. "You scared the pants off me!" He stood up to look at the mess, sighing, "I'll help clean this up."

The Night fury innocently trotted over to the other side of the room, picked up a book and travelled back to his owner so his owner could put it in the corner of where it came from. What Hiccup soon realized as he stacked each individual book on top of the other was that all the books had something in common: they were Viking guidebooks.

Each guidebook, once Hiccup dusted off and stacked on top of each other, had titles beginning with: "A Viking's Guide to…" Hiccup was shocked that Vikings relied on guidebooks for their everyday needs. This was something his father, Gobber or anyone else for that matter actually revealed. Of course he knew they kept records for dragons and their species, but the guidebooks he stacked covered all sorts of topics, from "how to fight" to "how to cook"; from hunting game to family time, and even personal hygiene, biology, anatomy, arithmetic, music… Hiccup was so intrigued by all the Viking book titles that he didn't realize he had finished his task.

Proud, relieved and ready to write his note once again, Hiccup sat down and took out another sheet of paper, setting aside the messed up one. As he picked up the charcoal once more, though, Toothless interrupted.

The dragon stared into Hiccup with big puppy dog eyes, and then set down a book on the desk.

Hiccup was disbelieved. "Where'd you find that?" he asked curiously.

Not wanting to be bothered, Toothless turned his back on his trainer and sauntered to the other side of the room. Hiccup shrugged this response off. Sometimes, it was hard to tell what dragons were thinking.

Diverting his attention back to the book, Hiccup picked it up and opened to the first page. What caught his eye, however, was the interesting title this guidebook displayed.

"_A Viking's Guide to First Love,_" Hiccup read aloud as he flipped the page. "Love is like falling down stairs; once you start on one step, you can't control yourself. This guidebook will show you easy steps to winning your first love so you can have the relationship you always wished for." The room seemed extra quiet as the teenager turned the page. Although the book looked old and outdated for his time, he still was interested to see what the book had to say, thus proving his desperation.

"Steps," Hiccup continued to read aloud. He traced his finger down the page as he skimmed through the table of contents. "Eye contact, holding hands, giving flowers…" Realization dawned upon him as he comprehended where his father's tips came from, with the step ladder and all. At the moment when he found a section called "Pick up Lines" and flipped to it, Hiccup was almost certain Astrid would see him for the person he really was.

Life too, was certain. But not quite.

It was early morning as Hiccup initiated his actual plan. Under a pink streaked sky, he and Toothless made way to Astrid's home, quietly placing the note he wrote at her front door, with high hopes that she would discover the note as soon as possible and read his message.

_I'll be waiting,_ thought an eager and excited Hiccup as he rode off into the skies with his Night fury.

~YYY~

Only a few hours later, Astrid was out of bed and ready for a new day. She opened the door for a fresh morning breeze, not only getting what she wanted but also a note smack in the middle of her face.

Slamming the door to prevent other chaos from flying, Astrid peeled the note off her face and unfolded it. She was in a big surprise for the message of which the note conveyed.

_"Dear Astrid, _

_If I could rearrange the alphabet, I would put U and I together."_

The note was left just like that, in all its glory, unsigned, without a name. Astrid could only glare at that note in disgust as she crumpled it up and tossed it aside. As she did, she was soon approached by her mother.

"What's that you got there, sweetheart?" Astrid's mother asked.

The teenager uneasily crossed her arms and pivoted around. "Nothing, mother," she said and stormed back into her room. "Whoever wrote that stupid note, anyway?"

~YYY~

"Yes!" cried an overjoyed Hiccup with his dragon friend. "I did it! I really did it!" Toothless tried to intercept but was stopped by Hiccup. "If only I could see the look on Astrid's face!" Toothless looked up helplessly at Hiccup as he continued to flatter himself. "I ought to make more notes for Astrid. Maybe more pickup lines. Oh, this is awesome!"

The next thing before Toothless' eyes was a love-crazed teenage boy madly scribbling notes with charcoal and paper.

~YYY~

"I don't get this," Astrid said angrily. "Why on Berk would anyone do such a thing?" She slammed her head down hard on the table as Snotlout picked up a note from the small pile and stared at it in disgust.

"So_, I hear you like blackberries. Well, how about dates?_" Snotlout tossed the note aside. "What kind of idiot spends their time writing this?"

Underneath her arms, Astrid let out a small smile. Even in tough times, Snotlout could spot out the idiots in people, or certain note writers.

"If you think that's horrible, check out the other ones," she replied.

"_Any way I could get a map? Because I just keep getting lost in your eyes_." Snotlout shuddered as he picked up another insane note.

"_If you were a booger, I'd pick you first!_" This time, Snotlout could only stare in disbelief. "Even I don't do things this idiotic!"

"Well then, who does?" Astrid demanded as she swept the remaining notes off the table, unable to bear sight of them anymore.

Snotlout shrugged. "I don't know," he replied. "Probably someone who's really been falling for you lately."

Astrid's eyes widened as the answer dawned upon her.

"You know who?" Snotlout asked, surprised she found the answer so quickly.

"Yes!" Astrid responded brightly in a sudden change of mood. "Hiccup!"

"Oh, Hiccup?" answered Snotlout. "I was beginning to think something was wrong with that guy."

"Something _is_ wrong with the boy," Astrid snapped. "He's trying to tell me something! The problem is, I'm not listening!" Standing up, she extended her arms and hugged Snotlout, who gently eased the girl's arms off his back. "Whoa, let's not get too crazy around here," he said, standing up to leave.

"Where are you going?" Astrid asked, following him to the door of her house.

Snotlout rolled up his sleeves and curved his biceps to show big, greasy muscles. "I'm going," he replied casually. "To work out."

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**You've probably noticed a few flaws or something in my story, right? Well, I have some sort of objection!**

**Yes, I understand that in Viking language, their alphabet was probably not the same as ours, therefore that pun of the first pickup line would not work! But, as I watched the movie, I noticed when Hiccup was reading the book that their written language seemed pretty much like English, and was more like a word for word code. **

**That was actually the only point I wanted to address, although I do have some other sorts of things to say. **

**The cheesy pick up lines...well...I got inspired to that through a dinner conversation with my family some months ago, and I thought it would suit this story perfectly. I asked my friends if they knew any pick up lines, and well, they threw me with some of their favourites. I couldn't use them all, unfortunately, but I do thank my friends for giving me a good laugh with the pick up lines! **

**Also thank you to Catnip-Packet (almost called you Catnip-Packed), who kept bugging me throughout my days off updates to write Chapter 5. I DON'T CARE if you insult me; I'm throwing compliments right back at ya!**

**By the way, the piano festival went quite well, actually. There were two that I played in, and I got silver for both. I suppose that's not too bad...except for the fact that I've won silver for the past few years in a row! Then again, I suppose it's better than a bronze. **

**Okay, I'll shut up now, and you can review. **


	6. Over Jellied Meat

**Author's Note: And after what seemed like forever, this chapter finally emerged from the darkness! Enjoy! =D**

* * *

**Chapter 6: ****Over Jellied Meat**

Taking a deep, brave breath, Astrid stepped up in front of the tall doors and knocked twice. She figured it would be best to have a personal talk with Hiccup in his home, to find out why he was so out of his character lately.

The door opened a crack as two cautious, watching eyes surveyed the girl, once, twice, thrice before finally opening the door completely. "Astrid!" Stoick greeted, surprised to see her on his doorstep. "What brings you here?"

He extended his arm, revealing a platter abundant of grey jello-like squares. "Would you like some?" he offered, though Astrid's disgusted look gave the answer away already. Stoick took the plate back and put one jelly in his mouth.

"What is that?" Astrid asked curiously as she eyed Stoick's moving mouth.

After swallowing, Stoick responded, "Jellied meat." He took another grey square and ate it. "It was once a Viking delicacy. Pretty tasty too."

For a moment, Astrid looked as though Stoick were insane. "I'm here to see Hiccup," she said, dismissing the jellied meat topic. "Is he home?"

"He should be upstairs," Stoick replied, holding out a chair. "Have a seat while I go and fetch him."

As Stoick disappeared to bring back his son, Astrid used the time to think back to the mishaps that happened so far with her and Hiccup. First, it started with the boy hiccupping, but that was probably by coincidence. Next she encountered him at the cove, but all he managed to say was a series of useless phrases. Then came the cheesy love notes, all wrapped up in curly Q.

Like any other girl, Astrid was catching on to what really was happening, the reason to all of Hiccup's unfortunate mishaps. In order to prove the facts, though, she would have to get Hiccup to confess, confess that he loved her. Truth was, how hard was that task going to be?

~YYY~

He had only taken one step, and was already holding on to the chair for his life. It was well over clear that heavy Viking armor would not do well on Hiccup.

"Toothless, buddy…." Hiccup gasped, struggling to balance. "I've changed my mind about this outfit." At the same time as the words slipped out of his mouth, Hiccup lost grip on the chair and let go, landing with a hard crash. "I don't think I want to wear it anymore."

The Night fury narrowed his eyes at the fallen boy. After all, it was Hiccup's fault that he chose to wear the outfit for Astrid. Why was it that Hiccup acted so weird around that girl, anyway? After all, she loved him for who he was…did he not?

Proudly, Toothless sauntered over to Hiccup to assist in getting the armor off, which was a lot harder than it looked. With hard work however, the two managed to pull off the top part of the suit. They were so busy trying to remove the armor that they did not hear the door knocking or his father's orotund voice.

"Hiccup?"

After a pause of silence with no response, Stoick made a fist and tapped the closed door again.

"Son? You there?"

This time, he didn't bother waiting for a response. Stoick swung the door wide open, only to discover his son half undressed in a bulk of metal. Not soon after, Hiccup realized his father's presence.

"Oh! Hey Dad!" Hiccup stuttered, carelessly picking up a shirt from the messy floor and covering himself with it. "What's up?"

Stoick frowned. "Astrid's here to see you," he replied, grimacing at the scattered piles of clothing on the floor before shutting the door again and backing down the stairs, wondering what got into his son.

"I'll be right there, Dad!" Hiccup called after his father while trying busily to put on a shirt.

On the other side of the room, Toothless wore a contorted expression.

~YYY~

Meanwhile, Astrid was growing tiresome of waiting. The minutes felt like hours to her as she robotically turned from wall to wall, picture to picture and window to window. At this moment, it was even tempting to try one of those grey jellied-meat squares that Stoick left sitting on the table. The Viking had left the house moments earlier without any sort of explanation as to why he was out.

Astrid sighed in despair as she slumped at the wall in front of her, now wishing she had arranged for Hiccup to come over to her place instead. That way, at least, when Hiccup showed up, they would have been prepared to talk. Then again…

Just as Astrid was cooking up ruthless plans in her head, she heard a door swing open in the distance. Curiously, she stood up and made her way toward the noise, which was coming from upstairs.

The pathway upstairs was barely lit, but Astrid could barely make out a figure making its way down the stairs. She stopped abruptly and narrowed her eyes as the figure drew closer and Hiccup emerged from the shadows, with Toothless close behind him.

Astrid's eyes widened at his presence. "Hiccup!" she exclaimed, unsure of whether to be hyped or disgusted by his unmanly appearance.

At the sight of Astrid, Hiccup's eyes widened as well, but fate also took a turn for the worse for him. Losing his balance, Hiccup clumsily began to fall down the stairs, but before he could make any horrible contact with them, Astrid reached out and grabbed Hiccup's arm, pulling him back to balance. And that was when Astrid noticed it.

"Hiccup?"

His response was conventional. "Yes?"

"Your vest's on backwards."

The expression froze for a second, followed by a gaze down to his outfit. Sure enough, Hiccup's furry vest was put on reverse, the back part hanging down from his chest. Awkwardly, the boy giggled, quickly taking off his vest and putting it back on the right way.

Astrid put one hand on her hip, the other supporting Hiccup. "We should talk," she said firmly.

Hiccup shrunk back for a second, colour draining from his face. "Here…? Right now?"

"Do you have a problem with that?"

"No, no," Hiccup responded immediately, throwing in a nervous giggle. "None at all, really."

Just then, Toothless appeared beside Hiccup and shot him an "I don't think so" look. Hiccup gulped, guilty of charge.

"Perhaps…we should go flying outside on Toothless. You know…he needs the fresh air…and you do too…"

Astrid raised an eyebrow. "I think we should take my dragon," she objected to Hiccup's brilliant plan.

Hiccup tried to compromise. "We could just ride both."

Astrid looked skeptical. "Both?" she repeated.

The two stared at each other once again, silence filling in between them. Then Astrid spoke up. "I have a better idea," she said.

Taking Hiccup's hand, she carefully led him down the stairs until they were at the front door. By now, he looked ready to die.

"Let's walk together," she declared, pushing the big doors open. "I think we both need some fresh air."

* * *

**Sorry I took forever to update. I'm desperately trying to finish my music theory at this moment...and the big test is on the first week of August, so I've been studying lots. **

**I read about jellied meat in a novel once, but I actually am unsure if it really exists. It sure does sound disgusting. **

**Thanks for your patience! Hope you have lots more! ~**


	7. These Three Words

**Author's Note: As of now, there are 710 stories on the How to Train Your Dragon? 710 stories? Everyone here is amazing! =D**

**As you have probably noticed, I changed the title to this story. I was looking for a better title to name it, because I found "How to Train Your Dragon Trainer" unfitting and too long to say. Then it struck me one day of what to name the title, and magic, I changed it. Hope you enjoy Chapter 7, because as of now, it is to be the second-to-last chapter of the story. =(**

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**Chapter 7: ****These Three Words**

It's hard to look cool when your insides reach the melting point.

Hiccup felt this way as he made his way up the steep hill, into the woods, with Astrid leading the way. He couldn't afford to look at her right now, especially with his one leg throwing him off balance and without a Toothless to support him.

Up ahead, Astrid was pacing herself. She wanted to take Hiccup to a far place so he would have no chance of possibly running away, a place where they could talk in private. She also wanted to get Hiccup to the top as soon as possible, but knowing the certain obstacles he would face, the destination seemed farther than what it seemed.

Finally, after what seemed like many years, both to Hiccup and Astrid, the two of them reached the top of the steep hill. Groaning in exasperation, Hiccup collapsed to the ground. "That…took…forever," he grumbled.

Astrid crossed her arms and stared out at the view in front of her. "Long enough," she sighed. Following her lead, Hiccup slowly picked himself off the ground and stared off in the direction that she was staring.

Through his eyes, he could see over the cove, the glassy waters near Berk and a pale gray sky. Even a few distant villages and travelling ships could be spotted in the distance. Hiccup knew he had to admit: the view was pretty sweet, especially for an island like Berk. He exhaled deeply, just as Astrid snuck her own arm around his shoulder. Because of this, Hiccup couldn't help but sneak out a helpless smile, particularly when her arm gripped tighter around him, as though he would flee her if she let go.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Astrid spoke the words plainly, as if it were only the beginning.

"Yeah," Hiccup replied in a daze, turning his gaze toward the girl he loved.

"Astrid…" he said quietly. Time seemed to stand still, waiting for him to confess.

Astrid turned to stare at him. "What?" she asked with curiosity in her voice, although she knew what was to come next.

"Astrid, I…"

There was a pause, as Astrid waited for Hiccup to finish. If he did, it could be a miracle.

But he never finished his sentence. Instead, he leaned forward until his lips touched hers.

Startled, she slumped back, but soon straightened up again and took full control of the kiss. Astrid knew that she should have known better. She should have seen it coming.

Her eyes opened, and widened at the first sight of the sky. Desperately, Astrid tried to break free of the kiss, but Hiccup's lips always appeared to find a way back to hers.

"Hiccup, get off me!" Astrid shouted suddenly, pushing as hard as she could against the boy. His eyes flashed open in surprise. "Oh, Astrid!" Hiccup exclaimed, astonished at her expression. "What just happened? _Did I miss_?"

Enraged, Astrid punched him hard on the shoulder. "Ow!" Hiccup yelped in surprise. "What was **that** for?" Following Astrid's gaze, though, he wasn't in need of an answer. Above their heads, dark, hideous rain clouds were forming.

"We need to leave," Astrid panicked. "**Now**."

To her surprise, Hiccup simply shrugged at Astrid's command. "We shouldn't worry so much about the rain, Astrid," he said. "So what if we get a few drops on our heads? It's not like we're going to have-"

Thunder interrupted as the clouds spewed out more rain.

"More rain?" Astrid finished Hiccup's sentence through clenched teeth.

As if on cue, the sky boomed at its loudest peak and the clouds were pouring buckets now.

"We're gonna go," Hiccup said quickly, grabbing Astrid by the arm.

"A little too late," mumbled Astrid.

The two hastily fled down the hill, dashing through trees and between bushes until they found a safe shelter from the storm. Hiccup sighed with relief as he and Astrid made their way under some hanging rocks; the thunder roared angrily at its loudest peak as they made themselves comfortable. Quietly, Hiccup hugged his legs to his chest, watching as the rain continued to pour. He could hear Astrid breathing, gasping from the cold and wet. As he took a look at her, however, the case was different. Astrid's face was buried up against her legs, and her shoulders were quivering. Through dim light, Hiccup could just make out what was really happening: Astrid was crying.

He sat there, dumfounded for a moment. What was he to do with her? Give her a hug, or maybe tell her to snap out of it?

Awkwardly, Hiccup patted Astrid on the back. "What's wrong, Astrid?" he asked, putting as much concern as he could into his voice. When Astrid didn't reply, Hiccup tried to rephrase.

"Astrid, everything's going to be okay."

Astrid snorted. "As if."

Taken aback by her comment, Hiccup tried once again. "What's there to be so upset about? It's just a storm. So what?"

Astrid's reply was cold and simple. "I don't like storms."

"Don't like storms?" Hiccup repeated, leaning closer towards Astrid. "As in, you're afraid of them?"

"Yes," Astrid replied sullenly.

Hiccup frowned as he watched the rain pour some more. "Are you sure you're afraid?" he asked. "You didn't seem so afraid when the Green Death…"

Astrid interrupted him by sniffling. "Yeah, but…" She paused before resuming. "But that storm was different."

The frown on Hiccup's face was ready to become permanent. "But how? How was that storm different? This storm is nonetheless the same!"

He stopped, covering his mouth with both hands. Had he said too much? Was it too late to turn back now?

Through his eyes, Astrid was staring back at him, teary eyed. Hiccup let go of his mouth and sighed. "What if I could change it?" he asked softly, completely changing tone of his voice. "What if things got better because I said…" His voice trailed off and he cleared his throat and spoke, in a tiny voice, "_I love you_?"

Astrid's teary eyes glittered at the three words.

The next thing Hiccup knew, she was in his arms, and he was hugging her.

* * *

**Author's Note: I'm not too certain if Astrid really is afraid of storms, but you never know, right? Some people just suddenly get afraid for no apparent reason (It happens to me a lot.), and even the toughest people have the softest spots. So I consider the fear a possibility. Besides, it worked well for this chapter! Any opinions?**


	8. Cloud Gazing

**Author's Note: "Crescent" in this story refers to Astrid's Nadder. I figured she would have given the dragon a name at this time, so for now, I'm calling the Nadder Crescent. Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 8: Cloud Gazing**

With a loud, relaxed sigh, Astrid's lazy arms flung outward, hitting the sun-dried grass with an inaudible thud. Squirming within her embedded position, she chose to look at the puffed up cloud shape from a different angle before making her statement.

"Nadder."

Upon hearing this, of course, Hiccup knew it was his turn to identify cloud shapes. He selected a patch of thin wisps travelling across the sky. Pointing to them, he responded, "Eel."

Astrid's head faced the keen-eyed boy with a look of dismay. "Are you kidding?" she questioned his intelligence. That one's fatter than a…than a Gronckle!"

"Well then, we obviously can't be looking at the same cloud!" Hiccup retorted, tracing the wispy shape with a thin finger of his own. It was then that Astrid could pick out the skinny finger sailing busily across the blue sky.

"Geez, Hiccup, you don't have to get so worked up over everything," Astrid finally said, resting her hands underneath the back of her head. The tension she could feel between her and Hiccup felt awkward and prolonged. They hadn't exactly spoken to each other since the day they were out in the storm.

It wasn't exactly as though it was possible, anyway. The day after that "personal incident" between the two of them, Astrid had to go off on an expedition (for Viking girls only) while Hiccup stayed behind to tend to his many inventions in the blacksmith shop. All this had occurred just over a week ago. Now that they had time apart from each other, however, Astrid thought she could rest a little easier talking to Hiccup at this time. Such was the reason she invited Hiccup and Toothless to join her and Crescent at the cove.

Relaxed, Astrid gently closed her eyes, allowing a cool breeze to whisper past. Another important, curious question was rising up from the back of her mind, one that had carried with over overseas and back to the island of Berk. A long wave of silence swept over the two as Astrid finally gathered up courage to ask.

"Okay, Hiccup," Astrid finally spoke, crossing one leg atop the other, "I don't know it I could live another day without knowing this, but: _what stopped you_?"

Hiccup remained speechless until he cluelessly answered, "What?"

Upon repeating herself, Astrid didn't hold back on the question. "All those days-weeks even, of you acting so…_weird_…" She paused as she sat up on the hill, hugging her legs, "It was all just to confess how much you love me?" She had to speak this with much disbelief.

Following her lead, Hiccup too sat up. Astrid could hear him inhale sharply as he looked her straight in the eye and replied, "It had to be done." As his serious expression faded away, so too did his serious tone of voice as he rambled on.

"I know it seemed awkward-and it probably was-for me to be acting all strange and odd around you, but…well, I don't even know what got into me. All I know is that on my mind, I was thinking if I had to tell the most beautiful girl on Berk that I loved her…"

Without another word, Hiccup's ramble was met with a set of lips from the one whom he loved. At first, he tried to fight Astrid's kiss off, perceiving the fantasy as a delusion of grandeur. It wasn't before long before he got into it, however, and everything soon seemed to fall into place. Unnoticeably, his hands were making their way up her back. When Astrid thought she was finished, she pulled away from Hiccup's face. He, however, lunged forward to kiss her once more.

Oddly, a faint hush of "awws…" peeped out from some particular teens hiding behind a rock who couldn't resist but observe such a great moment in history, as they perceived. Upon hearing it, Astrid and Hiccup abruptly broke off and stared at the rock, which, at the moment, appeared to be normal as Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Fishlegs and Snotlout breathed a short sigh of relief on the other side of it.

Leaning closer to the ground in hopes that she wouldn't be spotted, Ruffnut sharply elbowed her twin. "Hey, your sword's mine," she whispered. "She obviously kissed him first."

"Yeah, but he kissed her afterwards!" Tuffnut shot back, slightly raising his volume. "Looks like **I'm** taking **your** sword."

"Yeah-well, you can't just change the rules of a bet after it's finished!" Ruffnut responded, raising her voice.

"We just bet on who would kiss who, not who would kiss who **first**!"

"Hey!" interrupted Snotlout, shutting the twins up. "If Hiccup or Astrid finds out that we're watching them, we might be dead meat."

"Uh…with Hiccup?" Tuffnut pointed out, causing Snotlout to roll his eyes.

"Okay, maybe not Hiccup, but with Astrid!"

"Well then, maybe we should go now!" Fishlegs hissed, observing the couple as they began to make their way up the Cove. The unexpected snorting of a dragon's nostrils caused them to bolt into the forest immediately, the Monstrous Nightmare's eyes following them warily.

"Is that…Snotlout's dragon?" Astrid asked while her wandering eyes watched the cagey dragon walk away from them into the forest.

Hiccup shrugged. "I don't know. And speaking of which…where's Toothless?"

Astrid then realized that the dragons who took them to the cove were now missing from the scene. "I don't see Crescent, either," she responded.

As she spoke, a loud purring noise pierced the cool air. Both Hiccup and Astrid exchanged glances. "What was that?" Hiccup questioned. Astrid, however, didn't need to ask anything as she bolted off into the forest in the direction she heard the noise coming from. Hurriedly, he staggered behind her with his metal foot, nearly bumping into her when he noticed that the girl Viking had suddenly stopped.

Leaning downwards, Hiccup breathed heavily from all the effort to catch up. "What…why'd we stop?"

When Astrid didn't answer, he tried asking again. It was then after the third attempt that Hiccup stood straight up and caught note of her expression. Her large blue eyes were merely puddles stuck to her face, and her mouth, partially opened, was unsure of what to do.

Curiosity killed the cat as Hiccup turned away from Astrid's gaze, only to wear a similar expression of his own when he saw them: Nadder and Nightfury…_together_.

The two dragons didn't seem to notice watching eyes as they leaped happily over each over, grunting in what appeared to be dragon talk. Amidst the prospect, Hiccup looked towards Astrid. "I think we should go now," he whispered.

There was a long pause before Astrid looked back at Hiccup and replied, "Yeah."

* * *

**And there you have it! Finally, the last chapter decided to rise up from the dark. I wrote this over the summer but was too lazy to type it until now. I think I should start finishing up all my unfinished stories; that's sure to take a load off my back! =D**

**Oh, yes. "Gift of Nightfury" comes out in November! It's going to be EPIC! **


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